The Professor's Notes

I have many thoughts on digital textbooks, and you have all had an opportunity to read them here.   Apple has made their “big move” and I am both pleased to see digital moving forward, and also a bit concerned about what could become the “only” platform on campuses.

I actually presented a paper on the challenges of digital textbook pricing at the Western DSI (Decision Sciences Institute) conference in 2011.   You can read the paper here.  In that paper, I point out that by driving the logistics costs of moving, handling, and returning paper products out of the system, along with other costs such as maintaining a bookstore, one can drive the costs down to about (surprise!) $15.00 while maintaining the 2 year profits of the publisher. And by withdrawing the pressures of the resale market, the profits only go up from there.

First thoughts that led to that paper were written about here  and here.

Most recently I wrote about  consumer driven markets. Who should make the  choice? Digital textbooks are able separate the content from the medium, and allow flexibility–unless we are locked into a hardware platform.  I also wrote about this in this post.

I would welcome other thoughts on those posts and on the paper.

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Like so many this holiday season I have been doing most of my gift shopping online. I have had a few interesting experiences, mostly dealing with the shipping aspect of the order. I will be writing about mine soon, but wanted to hear what good or bad, or just “interesting” experiences you might have had.

Please, take a minute and leave your story in the comment section!

Thanks!

My brother shared with me a very humorous story, about UPS apparently confabulating a story about his son (5 y.o. at the time) apparently calling UPS to tell them to return a shipment to sender. My brother writes:

A birthday present for our soon to be 6 year old son was being delivered by UPS. Initially their site said (according to my mother-in-law) that it had been delivered on our porch on Thursday. When my wife called UPS on Friday to say that it was not delivered she was told, “Mack Brady called and requested it be returned to sender.” My wife pointed out that Mack Brady was 5 years old and expecting that box to contain lots of LEGOs from his grandparents. He was unlikely to make the call much less request that the package be returned to sender.

It was delivered 5 days (3 business days) later.

I find this experience very interesting as we seek to learn valuable service delivery,  supply chain, and life lessons. Read the rest of this entry »

My friends Joe Tillman and Kate Vitasek have written a <A HREF=”http://www.dcvelocity.com/articles/20091201order_fulfillment_perfection/”> very timely article</A> discussing the “perfect order.” What they point out is that, while service providers may have “perfect order fulfillment” as their goal, you won’t get there if you don’t have as <B>your</B> measure of perfection the same measure as your customer.

They do use a very timely approach, expressing the perfect order in terms that would satsify Ralphie, from the Christmas movie classic “A Christmas Story.” The article is well worth your read.

I gave a presentation last month to the Advisory Board here on campus for our Business School.  I thought I would share the presentation and also the talk as recorded that morning.

I welcome any thoughts you might have on how we can better use technology in business education, and specifically how we can better prepare students to use technology in the “real world” when they graduate.

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For those not practicing the fine art of Ostrich-ing (hiding your head in the sand), you will note that the dollar is performing poorly against most (all?) international currencies at this time. Of course, the media is reporting this as yet another indicator that times are tough.

Alas, all is not as clear when assessing the economy. In fact, a “weak dollar” has some significant benefits–especially for the “average” American.  And, for those readers here for Supply Chain information, the impacts of the dollar are felt throughout. Read the rest of this entry »

It appears, according to the BBC, we are another step closer to a compressed air car. Let’s start with the highlights:

• Runs on compressed air
• Seats 5
• Will cost about $5,000 (that’s £2,500, imagine what it will be like if the dollar gets stronger!)
• Will be licensed to manufacturers to produce locally
• uses fuel only on long drives to heat the air

Sounds pretty ingenious, eh? And the article points out that “producing no emissions at all in town.”

I like a couple aspects of this car. First, I do like a $5K car. An affordable car! And the use of compressed air, on the face, has me saying “w00t!” It would appear that, from an environmental perspective, we have at least removed the various particulate contaminates from the local air. In fact, I was pleased to see the article specify no emissions “in town” since obviously producing the energy to compress the air will in most places result in some emissions.

I am also quite intrigued with the “produce locally” concept. Unfortunately, that will mean that the cost to manufacture will be different depending on locale, so the actual price of a car will vary widely by market. But then again, as we look at global supply chains we see once again the pressures of transportation costs pushing back to either larger inventories, local production, or both.

There are a few questions left open, as I await it’s delivery to the US.

• Will US Manufacturers step up to the idea of “make locally?”
• Will US Citizens buy a “ride” that isn’t all “pimped out?”
• Will the vehicle pass the US’s strict safety requirements?
• Will “gas” stations still only charge a quarter for their air?

The article itself mentioned the issues of the amenities, and the issue of safety. It is not clear from the article that the creator of the car understands all the issues with safety. According to the BBC:

Mr Negre says there’s no issue with safety – if the air-car crashes the air tanks won’t shatter – they will split with a very loud bang. “The biggest risk is to the ears.”

This does beg the question of impact safety, roll-over safety, and so forth, but it’s a start!

I suppose we wait, and see.

Now, for those of you that wonder when, if ever, I will talk about Supply Chain issues on this blog, let’s make this more of an ongoing discussion.

Obviously I have had an interest lately in fuel economy, and alternatives to the status quo. These are not driven simply by an altruistic vision of the future, but by rather practical personal and business considerations. Considerations that one can see in the supply chain. That said, I would like to invite your thoughts, in more of a conversational vein.

Perhaps you can share your thoughts on the impacts on supply chains of:

• Local food producers gaining a foot-hold in the market
• higher fuel prices as driven by crude oil prices
  • Consider off-shoring in this discussion. Labor prices drive production off-shore. Will fuel prices bring them back?
• alternative, native-grown fuel sources
• transportation routes devoted to moving crude oil
• transportation networks designed to move grains and grasses
• Economic impact of alternative fuel sources
  • If demand for fuel shifts to biomass, what would the impact be on crude oil prices?

I would recommend that you also visit the blog of “Imperfect Mommy” specifically where she outlines the benefits of local eating.

I look forward to reading your thoughts.

I have to admit, I am a water junky. I drink most likely gallons of water a day. I have all but abandoned sodas, and only drink coffee in the morning. Otherwise, it’s all water. Of course, having such a water addiction means that I, like most junkies, want my “fix” all the time. And I want my “fix” to be the purest possible. For me, this means a reliance on filters at home, and bottles of water when I am not home.

I tell myself this is healthy. This is a good thing. That I am keeping my body healthy. And yet, I can’t help but wonder about the efficiencies of a system that makes clean and pure water available to drink, out of half-liter bottles.

There are a number of concerns here, almost all of which touch on environmental issues, but are also at their heart “supply chain” issues. For instance, if we are shipping cases of water, we are moving tons, literally tons, of water by truck. Read the rest of this entry »

I presented my paper on Podcasting in Supply Chain Education. The paper received the “Teaching Innovation Award” for best paper in teaching innovations.

From the paper:

“Podcasting” has taken the technological and hobbyist worlds by storm, allowing for the creation of highly specialized audio (and now video) productions for delivery over the internet. This sort of capability has found its way into the classroom and into courseware, allowing professors to deliver a wide range of content to their students. (King, et al., 2006) This paper discusses the background of podcasting, the technology that enabled it, and how podcasting can be used to enhance supply chain courses with a “blended” or hybrid learning experience.

In addition to the podcast recording of the presentation, I am including the pdf of the paper, as well as the PowerPoint slides from the presentation.

Let me know what you think of it, and as always, leave comments, or send me a voice mail at the number listed in the contact section!

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